Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage

Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage won first prize in the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Awards in 2006 for Non-fiction: Humanities and Social Sciences. It is a collection of pieces of the culture of the Ndebele, Shona, Tonga, Kalanga, Nambiya, Xhosa and Venda. The book gives the reader an insight into the world view of different peoples, through descriptions of their history and life events such as pregnancy, marriage and death. "...the most enduring book ever on Zimbabwean history. This book will help people change their attitude towards each other in Zimbabwe." - Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Awards citation

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Author

Contents

Introduction

Zimbabwe’s Cultural Heritage is a collection of pieces on the culture of the
Ndebele, Xhosa, Tonga, Shona, Kalanga, Nambiya and Venda ethnic groups
in Zimbabwe. A brief historical background is given for each group, though
the emphasis of this book is not on the histories of groups, but on their...

THE NDEBELE

The Ndebele of Zimbabwe constituted themselves into a migrant kingdom
around 1821. The original Nguni group came out of the Zulu, Ndwandwe,
Mthethwa and Swazi States. Their King was Mzilikazi Khumalo, a son of
Matshobana. His mother was probably Cikose Ndiweni. The Ndebele were...

Face to face with the spirit of Africa

I looked at the sun, which was about to perform its daily ritual of departure.
This meant the dual ceremony was about to start. It was dual because my
aunt and her daughter were being ‘brought home’ simultaneously. I had
looked forward to this day because I had not witnessed...

Mzilikazi in Zululand

Mzilikazi Khumalo was born in the 1790s in the Nquthu area of northern
Nguni country in Eastern South Africa. This was before the emergence of
multi-clan and powerful nation states. Society then was organised into small
clans. The Khumalos, a Ntungwa Nguni group, lived under...

The treasures of Old Bulawayo

As we approach the summit of the low hill, we encounter a robust palisade
made from mopane wood. The incomplete palisade sets the Royal Enclosure
apart from the Peripheral Settlement, where the rest of the town dwellers
lived. Several beehive huts have also been reconstructed...

Elaborate Ndebele marriage rites

The father, as the religious focus of both the material (living) and spiritual
(departed ancestors) families, informed all parties of the marriage contract.
He, on their behalf, acceded to and blessed the arrangement. On the young
woman’s side, marriage meant subtraction or loss of an individual...

Polygamy for a special purpose

When the Sunday News published an article about Mr Italy Khumalo, who
wed two brides, many people took a keen interest. While some hailed
Khumalo for reviving an old Ndebele custom, others were not amused. The
marriage arrangement in question was no ordinary polygamy, which is...

Icholo and other wifely adornments

“You, son of Menyezwa, how can I have icholo (the top knot)? You know its
owner is late,” says the 79-year old Mrs. Thina Maphosa (nee Ncube), whose
husband died a few years ago. Mrs. Maphosa, also known as Naka Onah,
was born in the Gwandavale area whose headman was...

Pregnancy and marriage

Normally, a young woman got married before falling pregnant. As a general
rule, safe sex was practised – ukuhlobonga, or ukuphelela emathangazini.
When an unmarried woman became pregnant, she, in the company of her
aunt, went to announce her pregnancy to the parents of the father...

All about ‘Matshayisikhova’ - from a mobile library

Wrinkles on both his face and neck bear testimony to his advanced age. Grey
hair and feeble footsteps complete the picture of one who has witnessed
many Christmases. He is Nyumbana Dube of Sankonjana in Sear Block,
Matobo District. He and his family came to Sankonjana...

Evictees’ cries of desperation fell on deaf ears

One man grins, recalling the melodrama when the train pulled out on its way
to Victoria Falls. One truck, which was supposed to carry the herdsmen, was
not connected to the train. So off went the cattle, leaving behind the stranded
and worried young men. Frantic efforts were made to reunite them...

Gogo Matshazi’s slit ears ‘mark’ her as an Ndebele

Emma Mlotswa, better known as Gogo Matshazi, a grand-daughter of the
famous Mfagilele Matshazi of the Indanana village, comes to meet me at her
house in Luveve from her maize field at ‘The Gumtrees’. What used to be
maize fields nearby have become the suburb of...

The millennium and the African concept of time

As we neared the year 2000, I received several inquiries about the Ndebele
word for millennium. I gave the same answer on all occasions.
“Yimeleniyamu, but remember, the Ndebele, like all other African peoples,
did not have the concept of a millennium...

Why a cattle kraal is sacred

The Sunday News of February 6, 2000 carried a story on the sacred dung
scandal that rocked the tiny Swazi Kingdom. The scandal concerned the
alleged theft of cow dung from the royal kraal by Parliamentary Speaker
Mgabhi Dlamini. Apparently, the alleged theft of...

The myths surrounding multiple births

Multiple births - be they twins, triplets or quadruplets – have traditionally
caused alarm and apprehension among African societies. Several myths and
practices relate to twins, known as amaphahla or amawele in Ndebele and
mapatya in Shona. Twins used to face similar prejudices and...

People of Godlwayo retain identity and pride

Godlwayo would have started as a military unit which, when its members
married, transformed into a village, umuzi. Young men, from the same age
group, were conscripted into a new unit, which was given a heroic name and
a chief appointed over it. Esprit de corps developed among...

Witchcraft

“This belief (in witchcraft) is found in all African societies,” claims John
Mbiti (1991). Witchcraft was so much an integral part of traditional Africa
that some early whites regarded it as synonymous with African religion.
Where the hunted don’t write, their own history shall be told by...

Belief in afterlife shown in burial methods

At Gwatemba small scale farming area we turn off into a farm. The Morris
Carter Commission, set up in 1925, recommended the segregation of land.
Its recommendations were translated into the Land Apportionment Act of
1930. The Act created Native Purchase Areas where Africans could...

Rituals and taboos surrounding death

When someone died, the spirit and the physical body separated. Members of
the community performed various rituals to facilitate the smooth passage of
the spirit into the next world. At the same time, measures were taken to
minimise pain and shock among the surviving members...

Sacred rituals observed during a matriarch’s burial

My father, in his capacity as medicine man and chief of protocol, took a little
beer, insipho, and ingwebu and mixed them. He smeared the faces of the
‘hyenas’. This was followed by the sprinkling of all the people gathered in
the hut, ukuchela. A fly whisk, itshoba, was used. Aunt...

THE XHOSA (AMAFENGU)

The amaFengu of Zimbabwe constitute a small community that has been in
Zimbabwe for over 100 years. The term Fengu, or Fingo, is derived from the
word ukufenguza, which means to beg or to ask for a place to settle. The
term is not accepted by the people concerned. They prefer to...

Male circumcision among the amaXhosa of Zimbabwe

After Mpangazitha’s death, those that went westwards were led by
Mehlomakhulu. It was Mehlomakhulu who, with his followers, joined the
Ndebele of Mzilikazi Khumalo in 1826 on the Likhwa (Vaal) River. This
was the first Ndebele settlement called koMkhwahla. The...

THE TONGA

Introduction

The earliest Bantu speakers settled in the Victoria Falls region between 400-500 AD. The use of ceramic style, or tradition, to recognize groups of people
suggests that these early farmers were displaced at the end of the ninth
century by the Later Iron Age Kalomo group. Around the...

Tonga architecture

There are four of us in this human trap, what might be termed a sikorokoro.
It is a sad euphemism to call it a car. The thing croaks, crackles and judders
along. At Dete Cross we turn right towards Tongaland. Wood carvings grace
the fringes of the tarred road. Craning giraffes share the shade...

The origin of the name Binga

The following morning, I leave my lodge to experience dawn by the lakeside
and join several other creatures in the pomp and pageantry that marks the
start of a new day. The distinctive call of the fish eagle announces the
advance of the sun. It is a contented and expectant call. The fish...

Language corruption: from ‘Kasamba bezi’ to Zambezi

With my moist hand I brush sweat off my forehead. Lethargy overcomes me.
Something at the corner of the table catches my eye. A pupil’s exercise
book. This should bring back fond memories of a nearly forgotten past.
Leafing through the tattered book I see a letter...

The Tonga nchelwa provides a healthier way of smoking

There is just one more interview I wish to carry out before we start on the
return journey. Why would a lot of people associate Binga with
mbanje/dagga smoking? Who says the Tonga nchelwa is used for smoking
mbanje? The nchelwa, or ndombondo or mfuko is that artefact...

Bulumba: Tonga hole-in-the-nose

The lady of the pipe has captured my heart. Wait, I am not given to
polygamous tendencies. I take a quick glance at the lady. Yes indeed, there is
something below her nose that raises intense curiosity in me. She parts her
lips and reveals she has no front teeth on her upper...

Zambezi River intricately tied to Tonga culture

Although Africans were an illiterate people, they had various ways and
means of preserving their history, culture, ideas on governance, interpersonal
relationships and philosophy, among other things. Proverbs, riddles, songs,
lullabies, praise poetry and folk-tales are important repositories...

The Dombe language has no written form

A short bespectacled man, bubbling with confidence, rushes in. He is George
Ndlovu. He has come to relate the story of his people, the Dombe. My
articles on the Tonga people nudged him into action. Hurriedly, George
Ndlovu lowers his body into a chair. After the...

THE SHONA

The Shona, who comprise the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe, arrived on
the Zimbabwean scene more than 1000 years ago. They included the
Nambiya and the Kalanga. Some Shona are found in western Mozambique
and southern Zambia where they are known as the Lozi. Today...

Link between Mapungubwe and the Shona

ON March 6, 2000, the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Channel 1
broadcast a documentary entitled ‘Mapungubwe, Secrets of the Sacred Hill’.
Mapungubwe, a flat topped hill, is located on the South African side of the
Limpopo River, near its confluence with the Shashi River. It was the...

The magnificent Great Zimbabwe

One of the exhibitors at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in Harare was
my former history teacher at Mazowe Secondary School, Ken Mufuka, now
a professor in the United States. He and I had the experience of launching
our books together – Madoda Lolani Incukuthu, for me...

The origins of Khami Ruins

The Shona at Great Zimbabwe practised collateral chieftainship succession,
just as they do today, with the chieftainship moving from brother to younger
brother. When it was Mutota’s turn to succeed to the throne, his candidature
was contested. It was alleged he was born out of an incestuous...

Legend of a four-eyed boy

Bikita district is dominated by the Duma people of the Moyo totem. Their
chidao is Gono Chirandu. The Duma left the Zambezi Valley to settle in the
Great Zimbabwe area before moving out to Uteve in western Mozambique.
In about 1700 they left Uteve to settle in the area between...

Origins of the VaRemba

Posselt penned the following words with regard to the origins of the
VaRemba. “Judging by the features of some natives, there certainly has been
an admixture of Semitic blood due to their intercourse with the early Arab
traders who had settled on the East Coast and penetrated...

Customs that lead to burial disputes

For three weeks a wife’s corpse has been lying in the hospital mortuary. Her
people will not bury her. The husband and his people dare not proceed with
the burial. They fear the dire consequences of a unilateral burial. Meanwhile,
the deceased wife’s close relatives are demanding a large herd of...

Nothing unusual in demanding cellphone

The cellphone craze has gripped Zimbabwe. The cellphone is so sought after
that is has entered the realm of the traditional custom of lobola. A Harare
man was reported as having demanding a cellphone from his prospective
son-in-law, whose family were taken aback by what they considered...

THE KALANGA

The Tjikalanga speaking people, or Bakalanga, are found in south–western
Zimbabwe. They are also found in northern and north-western Botswana. It
seems that the Tjikalanga speaking area used to be much bigger than it is
today. In the north-west they were in contact with the Tonga of...

The origin of the name Kalanga

Where did the word Kalanga come from? The Portuguese asked that
question as far back as the sixteenth century about the people they called the
Mokarangas, who called themselves Vakaranga. Some historians believe the
name Kalanga means ‘people of the sun’. East of Lake Tanganyika...

Kalanga inheritance

Among the Kalanga, the oldest son by the first wife may not have been the
one who succeeded his father as chief. The senior wife was not necessarily
the one who was married first, she was the one who was betrothed to the
chief first. The chief was succeeded by his first son by his...

How the Nyubi tackled epidemics

The Matopos represents an area where man has developed a close
relationship with nature. This seems to have happened at two levels. The first
level relates to the hilly nature of the Matopos. The people of the area say
that ‘rock has sustenance’, ‘Piyanedombo. Dombo linetshilenga’. The...

Rain–making ceremonies are part of African culture

Kings performed rituals to cause the rains to fall. For example, King
Lobengula went into the goat byre to perform the solemn rite. During that
period no guns were to be fired. Armies were not to be sent out on raids.
Anything red was not to be exposed in the open...

Mbanje originally entwined with culture

“Did I tell you how the whites came into this country?” he inquires. He goes
on to narrate how Zimbabwe was colonised. “And have you heard about
Mgandane Dlodlo?” he asks, in between pinches of snuff. Though I admit I
had heard about him, he goes on to narrate how the Ndebele hero...

The Kalanga and ‘Nholo we mwizana’

For the better part of a week, one issue dominated conversation in Bulawayo.
In offices and commuter buses, at bus stops and on factory floors, the talk
was about nholo we mwizana, an age old Kalanga cultural practice. Interest
in the matter was generated by a story in the Sunday News about...

Observance of traditional holy days

The weekly rest day, which is never the same in all areas of Zimbabwe, is
called chisi in Shona. There does not seem to be an Ndebele equivalent for
this day. In the Nguni world, the observance only exists through contact with
the Kalanga, who have come to observe the day...

THE NAMBIYA

A brief history of the Nambiya

The Nambiya were originally a breakaway group from the Rozvi State. Oral
tradition indicates that they fled because their leader, Sawanga (later
Hwange), had decided to set himself up as an independent ruler early in the
eighteenth century. They fled north, and then west, until they...

Ega Washington Sansole recounts Nambiya history

Sitting next to me in the studio is Felix Moyo, a friend from my youth. Our
eyes are on today’s interviewee, Ega Washington Sansole. He is here to
recount the history of the Nambiya people. Felix Moyo is first to fire a salvo
of questions at the former High Court Judge, a heavily built man...

THE VENDA

The Venda are found in South Africa’s Limpopo Province and in southeastern
Zimbabwe. They, like the Manyika, Kalanga and Birwa of
Zimbabwe, were spilt into two groups when colonial boundaries were
marked. In South Africa, the Venda occupy the area north and...

The significance of ‘Amalaveni’ among the Venda

When you look at his face, something strikes you immediately. The man
with two long parallel marks on each of his prominent cheeks is the
controversial Bulawayo based management consultant Malobele Smith
Mbezi. I have come to see him to find out about his facial...

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